The Amazing Spiderman #1

March, 1963

Written by Stan Lee, Illustrated by Steve Ditko

This issue, like Amazing Fantasy #15 before it, is sectioned off into parts. Part One gives a brief recounting of Spiderman’s origin, highlights Aunt May’s fiscal troubles after the passing of Uncle Ben, and then sends Peter back into the world of entertainment, chasing a buck.
I find it odd that Peter is still hunting the almighty dollar. I thought, after the death of Ben, that he would emerge, morals intact, to become the super hero we all know and love. But he’s still very much the bratty fifteen-year-old who wants to exploit his powers for money. And I’m actually glad Lee decided to revisit the greed. It makes sense and it gives a chance to build the credo of Spiderman in a slower, more genuine way instead of transforming him overnight. It also reminds us that Peter Parker is a teenager. And a young teenager, at that. My favorite scene in this comic is when his entertainment agent tries to pay him with a check and runs into a problem because Peter will not give up his secret identity. So, in true juvenile fashion, he demands the agent make the check out to ‘Spiderman.’ Peter takes it to the bank and they turn him down because he’s a little kid in a costume trying to cash a check under a false name. It’s asinine, but completely probable.


Part One also introduces a sometimes-friend-most-times-foe main character, J. Jonah Jameson. Jameson is the publisher of a, at this point unnamed, magazine or newspaper. He has decided that vigilantism is a public menace and Spiderman should be stopped. He also has an inkling that Spiderman is in it for the wrong reasons, namely fame and money, and he’s basically right.
In Part Two, Jameson’s son, who is a famous test pilot, is being launched into space. Predictably, something goes wrong and Spiderman saves him. He believes this will put him in good favor with Jameson’s publication, but instead he’s blamed for the original malfunction of the rocket. This will prove to be a pattern with Jameson over the next five-hundred some issues.
Part Three brings a further quest to become wealthy when Spidey decides he should join the Fantastic Four. The FF was introduced by Stan Lee about two years before and were pretty successful. Having a known superhero or group of superheroes usher in the new kid would become quite common in the following years (Wolverine first appeared in The Incredible Hulk and the Punisher in The Amazing Spiderman. Leave more examples in the comment section if you have one).
So Spiderman breaks into FF headquarters and fights with the team a bit before finding out that they’re a non-profit organization and, even if they let him join, he wouldn’t make any money. The Human Torch actually says, “You came to the wrong place, pal. This isn’t General Motors.” Apparently General Motors was hiring back then.
Spiderman’s first super-villain appears in Part Three: The Chameleon. The Chameleon is a master of disguise and his true appearance is actually quite unsettling for a 1960s comic book. He wears normal clothes and has a blank, white face with only slits for eyes and a mouth, similar to an unfinished likeness. Later in The Chameleon’s career he will be given full eyes, snake-like nostrils, and a regular mouth with teeth. But I think he’s much spookier like this.
During the run-in with The Chameleon, we get the first taste of the ‘spider-sense.’ Spiderman can detect danger moments before anything happens and this is how he identifies the garbed villain. I find the spider sense of these early comics to be a bit different than the modern era. The spider sense in the 70s, 80s and 90s is similar to an alarm that goes off in Spiderman’s head when danger is near. But originally it was more like he could sense movement and intentions within a certain range. As if he had a psychic web around him and if anything moved within it he could sense the vibrations. I like the older version better because the danger alarm never seemed to me like a spider power. Spiders can’t sense danger. I’ve killed plenty of spiders with a wad of Kleenex and I don’t think any of them saw it coming.
The fact that the story is told in three parts gives Amazing Spiderman #1 the same pulpy feel that Amazing Fantasy had, and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The short stories feel more like an outline than an actual plot, but it works in the same way an old-time radio show works. Decisions happen fast, fates turn on a dime, and you’re either with Stan Lee or you should just put the book down and give up. But, so far, these comics definitely stand the test of time, reading more like rich Americana than outdated pulp. Lee has a corny sense of how the world works, but his simple, child-like style is deceivingly smart.